Now that Ubuntu includes a graphical "usb-creator" utility right on the live CD, it's very easy, and also includes the option of having a persistent overlay, so changes are kept...for the most part.

(If you've previously run another distro off your USB key - like Slax - that uses syslinux to boot, you may have to repartition your USB stick and set the boot flag before running usb-creator for it to work properly.)

Ubuntu doesn't seem to like my nvidia card very well, though.

When I run Ubuntu from the live CD, X only comes up with a resolution of 800x600 on my 1280x1024 monitor. On closer inspection, /etc/X11/xorg.conf was practically empty. Running "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg" only took me through keyboard selection and quit. Cute. I mounted my openSUSE partition, copied an xorg.conf file over (one using the free "nv" driver), did a Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart X, and was in business at 1280x1024.

When running from the USB key, Ubuntu backs up the known-good xorg.conf file and writes its own nearly empty xorg.conf - the one that only gets me 800x600 resolution. (Fortunately, it does back up the good one, which you can then restore.)

You can install the proprietary nvidia driver when running Ubuntu from a USB stick - you just have to restore the known-good xorg.conf file, load the nvidia driver ("modprobe nvidia"), and then restart GNOME, every time you use it.

Personally, I find drooling unoobtu fanboys way less annoying then vacuous tree huggers that can't do simple math or physics (excess CD/DVD usage is item 419,342 down on the list of crap that might make a tiny insignificant change in the overall worldwide global warming problem).

Submitted by bigbearomaha on Monday 10th of November 2008 05:00:15 PM.

"fixing the global warming problem"

There is no conclusive evidence that there is a global warming problem. Scientists to this day are still debating the concept. So to use a possibly false argument as a basis for technological behavior is rather unreasonable.

There are several other good reasons one could give in promotion of conservation of resources. The theory of global warming isn't one of them.

To test (boot it to see if hardware is recognized, if the artwork is appealing, application selection, etc) a distro to which is unknown to me I prefer the LiveCD.

However if I've already used the distro I prefer the install CD. These are faster, more straight to the point especially when text based.

In fact to actually install the distro I prefer a simple text based install CD has I tend to hate 'point and click' and the keyboard feels much faster to me.

And please regardless of the format always but always place documentation on the media and alert the user of it. And I don't mean stupid help stuff, please go for full fledged documentation like Gentoo's Handbook or Arch documentation with both distros being examples on how to place useful documentation on the install media.

As a side note I love Debian' text mode installer. FreeBSD's text mode installer is also very good as it explains each option in a very clean fashion.

Live CD's have their purpose (testing hardware compatibility, fixing partitions, retrieving files, etc.) but they are a pretty poor choice to actually test a distro (way too slow, plus adding/updating/modifying packages can be problematic).

I find to actually test a distro, it's better to install it in a VM. Although there is still a performance hit, it's tiny compared to the LiveCD version, plus you have the full distro (in all it's glory or shame) to play with - all without effecting your primary OS or data.

Submitted by Greg Callahan on Wednesday 22nd of October 2008 06:49:33 PM.

Of course I like to check a distro with a live cd but if one is not available I will stall install a distro to check it out. And must say some of the distros I hold in high regard didnt have live cd versions.

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